Crafting a Handmade Spring Birthday Card: DIY Tutorial with Polkadoodles Products

Hello, Crafty Friends! Are you feeling creative and ready to spread some cheer this spring? Just imagine it: a beautiful sunny day, the sweet sounds of birds chirping, and the delightful scent of blooming flowers in the air. What better way to celebrate the season of renewal than by crafting a heartfelt handmade spring birthday card?

But that’s not all – there’s even more excitement to come! As we delve into the creative process of making this handmade spring card, we’ll also explore the wonderful world of Polkadoodles products. And the best part? By following this tutorial, you’ll not only learn how to create a beautiful handmade spring birthday card, but I’ll also provide some inspiration on how to utilize these charming products.

As a proud design team member of Polkadoodles, I had the pleasure of creating another card for the latest challenge on the Polkadoodles challenge blog. Today, I’m excited to guide you through the step-by-step process, sharing tips and tricks along the way to help you craft your spring birthday card.

So, are you ready to roll up your sleeves and craft this adorable card? Let’s embark on this creative journey together and create something truly special!

Before we begin creating a handmade spring birthday card, let’s gather all the materials we will need to bring this project to life. 

Let’s start with the Polkadoodles products we will use to design the card. We will need the following:

• Digital stamp: Choose your favourite from Polkadoodles’ charming collection of digital stamps. For this tutorial, we will use the “Bella Bear Gift-Fuzzypufs” digital stamp, featuring a sweet bear holding gifts, perfect for a spring birthday celebration. Shop here
• Spring-themed patterned paper: Select a vibrant patterned paper from Polkadoodles’ Spring Gnomes collection to add a splash of colour and whimsy to your card design. We will use two more patterns from the set to cut some elements from the paper. Shop here
• Birthday sentiment or greeting: Find the perfect sentiment or greeting from Polkadoodles’ collection of birthday-themed digital stamps or sentiments. We will be using the classic “Happy Birthday” sentiment from the “Birthday Sentiments and Greetings” set to add a heartfelt message to our card. Shop here

In addition to our Polkadoodles products, we’ll need a few other materials to complete our card. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Sturdy white cardstock: This will serve as the base of our card. Choose a high-quality cardstock that can withstand the weight of our embellishments.
• Adhesive: Use double-sided tape or glue to adhere the various elements of our card together securely.
• Colouring medium: you can use any colouring medium you like. For this card, we used Alcohol Markers to colour the digital stamp and bring our adorable bear to life. Choose a variety of colours to add depth and dimension to your colouring.
• Scissors or craft knife: Use these tools to carefully cut out our digital stamp and patterned paper, ensuring clean edges and precise shapes.
•  Grass die: We use this to die-cut the different layers of grass. You can also cut it yourself if you don’t have a die.
• Fence die: We use this to die-cut the fence. You can also cut it yourself if you don’t have a die.
• Sun and clouds dies: We use this to make the clouds and the sun. You can also cut them yourself if you don’t have dies.
• Ink: We use this to apply some ink to the edges of the clouds.

Now that we have all the materials, we can start working on the card.

Let’s get started on making our spring birthday cards! I will guide you through every step of the process, from colouring the digital stamp to creating all the elements on the card.

To start creating our handmade spring birthday card, we need to craft the base layers that will form the foundation of our design. Follow these steps to assemble the card base and layers:

• Select Your Cardstock: Choose a sturdy white cardstock for your card base. This will provide a solid foundation for the rest of your design.
• Trim and Score: Using a paper trimmer or scissors, cut your cardstock to the desired size. For a standard-sized card, trim the cardstock to 10.5 centimetres by 21 centimetres. Once trimmed, use a scoring tool to create a crisp fold along the centre of the cardstock. This will ensure a clean and professional-looking fold.
• Fold Neatly: Carefully fold the cardstock along the scored line, using a bone folder or the back of a butter knife to press down firmly. This will help achieve a clean and sharp fold without any creases or wrinkles.

• Cut a piece of white cardstock slightly smaller than the card base. This layer will serve as the first decorative element of our card.
• Use a partial die-cutting technique, positioning a wave or scallop edge die along one edge of the white cardstock. Secure the die in place with low-tack tape to prevent shifting during cutting.
• Pass the cardstock and die through your die-cutting machine, ensuring that only a portion of the die extends beyond the cutting plates. This will create a partially die-cut edge along one side of the cardstock, adding visual interest to our design.

• Choose a vibrant patterned paper from your collection, preferably one that complements the theme and colour scheme of your card.
• Trim the patterned paper to 14,3 centimetres by 10 centimetres. 
• Adhere the patterned paper to the white layer with the partially die-cut edge, aligning it with the straight edge of the cardstock.

• Cut a piece of white cardstock using a double-stitched rectangular die. This will serve as the background panel for our spring scene.
• Adjust the dimensions of the white cardstock to 11.8 cm x 7.8 cm, ensuring it comfortably fits on the front of the card base.
• Adhere the white background panel to the centre of the patterned paper layer, creating a clean canvas for our scene.

Now that we’ve created our card base, we can move on to the next steps. We’ll add vibrant colours, charming designs, and heartfelt sentiments to create a beautiful handmade spring birthday card. Let’s continue our creative journey together!

Now it’s time to print and colour the digital stamp.

Begin by resizing the digital stamp to fit your card design. You can do this using image editing software or by adjusting the print settings in your printer. I made my image a height of 6,5 centimetres. Print the digital stamp onto white cardstock using a high-quality printer for crisp, clear lines.

To colour the image, I used my alcohol markers. The following colour combinations were used: 

• Bear: Tawny, Hazelwood, Brown Grey, Walnut, and Clay
• Ears and Nose: Midi Old Rose and Blush
• Yellow Stripes: Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Pastel Lemon
• Black Stripes: Black, Cool Grey 9, and Cool Grey 7
• Blue Bows: Baby Boy, Midi Sky, and Dark Sky
• Gifts: Cool Grey 4 and Cool Grey 1
• Bee Wings: Cool Shadow
• Bee Body: Lemon Yellow and Black

Now that we have coloured our digital stamp, we are one step closer to completing our handmade spring birthday card masterpiece. In the next steps, we will continue to add elements and details to bring our card design to life. Let’s keep the creative momentum going!

Now that we have coloured our digital stamp, it’s time to bring all the elements of our handmade spring birthday card to life! Let’s create each component:

Begin by die-cutting or hand-cutting layers of grass from coloured cardstock. You can then colour the grass using alcohol markers for added depth and dimension. For a realistic look, I used the following colour combination: 

Colour Combination for Grass: Weed Green, Grass Green, and Forest Green

Use a fence die or hand-cut strips of cardstock to create the fence. Colour the fence posts and rails with earthy tones like brown or beige using alcohol markers.

Colour Combination for Fence: Rose Beige and Burnt Sienna

Cut out leaf shapes from white cardstock. You can then use alcohol markers to add shading and highlights to the leaves, following the colour combination previously mentioned.

Colour Combination for Leaves: Weed Green, Grass Green, and Forest Green

Die-cut or hand-cut clouds from white cardstock. Ink the edges with light blue ink to add depth. Print or hand-write your sentiment onto white cardstock, trim it into strips, and adhere it to the clouds.

Die-cut or hand-cut a sun shape from white card stock. If you don’t like colouring you can also use coloured card stock.  

Colour Combination for Sun: Primary Yellow and Golden Yellow

Use patterned paper to cut out additional elements like bees and flowers. These elements add charm and detail to the card design. I used specific patterns from the Polkadoodles paper set to enhance the overall aesthetic.

Now that all the elements are in place, our handmade spring birthday card is starting to take shape! Let’s continue our creative journey and put the card together.

Now that we have prepared the card base and created the various elements for our handmade spring birthday card, it’s time to assemble them onto the background panel and then onto the card base itself. Follow these steps to bring your card to life:fe:

• Begin by deciding where you want to place the fence on the background panel. Carefully position it according to your design preferences and adhere it firmly in place.
• Next, arrange the grass layers in front of the fence, ensuring that the tips of the grass blades extend slightly beyond the bottom of the fence for a realistic look.
• Layer the second set of grass blades in front of the first, using foam tape to add dimension. Position them slightly in front of the first layer to create depth.
• Place the bear image in the centre of the scene, positioning her between the two layers of grass and in front of the fence. Secure her in place with foam tape to add dimension.
• Adorn the area behind the bear with two leafy branches emerging from behind her, adding a touch of natural charm to the scene.
• Position the two small bees on either side of the fence, adding a whimsical touch to the design.
• Arrange the large clouds on either side of the bear, with the smaller cloud positioned above her head. This creates a balanced composition and adds visual interest.
• Finally, place the sun behind the right cloud, slightly peeking out to illuminate the scene.

• First, we place the white paper with the wavy edge on the card base.
• We place the patterned paper on top, creating a nice wavy edge around the yellow paper.
• Finally, we place our panel with the scene on the patterned paper.

Now that all layers have been placed, the card is ready to be sent.

Mistakes can happen during the card-making process, even with careful planning. In my case, I accidentally placed the words “birthday” and “happy” in the wrong clouds, resulting in “Birthday Happy” instead of “Happy Birthday.”

To rectify this mistake, I removed the words from the clouds. While doing so, I noticed a slight tear in the paper of the left cloud. However, I decided to incorporate it into the design and get creative.

I swapped the positions of the words, placing “happy” in the left cloud and “birthday” in the right cloud. To address the tear in the left cloud, I added a bee to hide it. I used the same bee that I had previously cut out of patterned paper, which added a playful element to the scene.

Mistakes can be frustrating, but they also provide valuable learning experiences. By embracing them as opportunities for growth and creativity, we can turn them into unique design elements and improve our skills as cardmakers.

Before correcting the card

After correcting the card

As we wrap up this tutorial, let’s take a moment to reflect on the wonderful handmade spring birthday card we’ve created together. From colouring the digital stamp to assembling all the charming elements, we’ve embarked on a creative journey filled with joy and creativity. Now, it’s time for you, our readers, to unleash your creativity and craft your beautiful cards!

Are you ready to take your card-making skills to the next level? Participate in the Polkadoodles Challenge for a chance to showcase your creations and win exciting prizes! Click the button below to learn more and join the challenge.

Looking for more spring card inspiration? Check out these articles for additional ideas and techniques:

Crafting a Captivating Buzz-worthy Card: Just Bee Cause for the Polkadoodles Challenge.

This is another card with a Bella Bear Digital Stamp from Polkadoodles. Also with spring or summer vibes.

Spring animals card | Polkadoodles

Another card to get some extra spring vibes.

Happy crafting, and may your creativity bloom like flowers in spring!

Let’s shine a spotlight on some of the fantastic Polkadoodles products used in this tutorial! These products are perfect for adding charm and whimsy to your card-making projects. Explore them below and unleash your creativity:

Bella Bear Gift Fuzzy Pufs

Shop at Polkadoodles

Spring Gnomes Digital Paper set

Shop at Polkadoodles

Birthday sentiments and Greetings

Shop at Polkadoodles

Elevate your card-making projects with these delightful Polkadoodles products! Click the links above to discover more and get inspired.

• Crafty Gals Corner: Anything goes
• Simons Says stamp Wednesday: Anything goes
• Cut It Up: Happy Birthday
• Alphabet Challenge Blog: The Z for Zoology (include animals).
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge …: Anything goes
• Classic Design Challenge Blog: Anything goes + Legged friends